The recent Kavanaugh hearings were nothing less than a purely partisan win for the GOP, but at what cost?

Kavanaugh didn’t have to be the Republican’s end-all in pursuit of a “win.” But it now appears our system of governance has been reduced to nothing more than win-lose. Republicans won, Democrats lost. What about the rest of us? Have we been reduced to sitting on the sidelines cheering or jeering our “team?” Doesn’t anyone care if We the People and this nation won anything?

We suffered through a national trauma during a time of unbelievable divide between civic and cultural institutions. The Kavanaugh fiasco was just another reflection of the lasting effects Trump’s dysfunctional behavior has had upon all aspects of life these days.

Trump’s all-out war on civil discourse is spilling over everywhere. The rules of engagement have changed and his rage on opponents normalizes reprehensible behavior. The Kavanaugh hearings were just a reflection of bad behavior made okay. These types of behaviors aren’t just confined inside the Capital Beltway, though. Look all around and all too many of us are now emulating these frightening postures.

But this is what Trump apparently wants. It keeps us divided and fighting among ourselves while it keeps his platform solidified.

Ken Goldstein, in his article Bad Behavior Made OK, says it best. “Think about what you are seeing, hearing, and reading in routine circumstances that two years ago would have been considered appalling.

Trump mocks a victim of sexual assault. He mocks a physically disabled journalist. He belittles the military service and wartime imprisonment of a senator. He insults the supreme sacrifice of a Gold Star family. He touts his wealth as permission to have his way with women at his whim. He proclaims that his ability to avoid taxes makes him smart. He denies climate change in direct opposition to the vast majority of the global science community. He cries out ‘America First’ in a nation that already consumes the most natural resources per capita and maintains the planet’s unequaled reserve of nuclear weapons.”

What lasting effects is this having on the rest of us? Think about what you are doing now that you wouldn’t have done publicly even just two years ago. Do you find yourself behaving differently? Do you find yourself reacting to things more quickly rather than with a measured response?

Are you feeling okay about any of this? Are you tired of “winning” yet?